American cloud-based software major Salesforce and industrial conglomerate Siemens announced a strategic partnership to develop a new workplace technology suite to support businesses globally to safely reopen and deliver the future experience for physical workplaces in a post-COVID-19 environment.
The partnership will combine Salesforce’s Work.com, powered by Customer 360, and Siemens’ Smart Infrastructure solutions, including Comfy and Enlighted, to orchestrate the processes, people and things that are essential to creating safe, connected workplaces for the future.
“The safe return of people to the workplace is a global challenge, and it’s vital that companies protect their employees to build trust and confidence,” said Roland Busch, Deputy CEO and member of the managing board of Siemens AG. “Together with Salesforce, we can swiftly support businesses around the world to implement technology which supports employees as they return to the office while laying the foundations of long-term digital transformation in workplaces.”
“Organisations worldwide are beginning to reimagine the future workplace experience, putting their employees’ health and safety at the center of their digital transformations,” said Alex Dayon, President and Chief Strategy Officer, Salesforce. “By combining Siemens’ Smart Infrastructure solutions with Salesforce’s Work.com, we are giving companies the tools to make smart, data-driven decisions quickly and the confidence to reopen safely.”
Combining Best-in-Class Technologies Siemens plans to contribute technology from its Smart Infrastructure portfolio, including IoT solutions company Enlighted and workplace experience solution Comfy. Data is collected multiple times per second by cloud-connected smart sensors from Enlighted. Enlighted’s Building IoT platform creates ‘sensory systems’ throughout the building, giving real-time insight and analytics into how the building is used, and providing occupancy and location services for people and assets.
Comfy’s Safe Workplace Solution features an employee-facing app, which enables businesses to keep people informed and productive while providing a workspace that is safe and compliant with local regulations. Employees can view and reserve desks and meeting rooms that adhere to distancing guidelines in real-time, search for and navigate to health and safety amenities, and request services such as sanitisation. Besides, Comfy Insights offers businesses an analytics dashboard to better understand how offices are being used, informing a smarter, data-driven strategy for future workplaces.
Salesforce’s Work.com, powered by Customer 360, is an all-new suite of applications and advisory resources to help business and community leaders around the world reopen safely. Work.com’s essentials solutions – including Workplace Command Center, Contact Tracing, Emergency Response Management and Rapid Crisis Response – empower customers to make data-driven decisions, build business continuity and risk management plans, and communicate effectively with stakeholders at scale.
Key solutions include a ‘touchless office’ with mobile employee boarding passes for building and elevator entry, and a safe occupancy management system, which allows employees to reserve conference rooms and desks through Comfy’s app that sends real-time alerts as thresholds are reached.
Additionally, by leveraging occupancy and location data provided by Enlighted and aggregated within Comfy, including employee check-in and desk and room reservations, businesses will be able to augment their manual contact tracing in Work.com. This will allow for faster and more accurate emergency response. Contact tracing will be an opt-in solution to respect users’ privacy.
Combining best-in-class IoT technology from Siemens with Salesforce’s Work.com solutions will enable customers to make data-driven decisions based on real-time data and create a flexible framework for future workplace experience. Siemens and Salesforce will be the first to deploy the new solutions in their own offices, including Siemens Smart Infrastructure headquarters in Zug, Switzerland, and Salesforce Tower in San Francisco.